The invention relates as indicated to a shipping box for plants, and relates more particularly to a shipping box capable of being shipped by common carriers with little or no damage to the plants.
The shipment of plants in boxes or containers by common carriers is less than satisfactory for any number of reasons. This is true even with highly reputable carriers such as United Parcel Service. Plants are typically shipped in pots with soil, and a constant concern of those shipping is to make certain that the plants stay properly oriented and are not tipped or tilted so as to cause or potentially cause loss of soil or even the plants from the pots. It will be appreciated that in handling boxes of plants, some of which are relatively large, it is very difficult for common carriers to maintain the boxes in a horizontal position, despite notices or warnings on the top of the box. Entire shipments can be destroyed if the boxes are inadvertently or unintentionally tipped upside down, and substantial damage can occur if the boxes are oriented to the point where substantial soil loss results.
Numerous plant containers have been designed with the above problems in mind. To the best knowledge of the inventor, no one has been able to achieve completely satisfactory results. An acceptable design must meet certain fundamental design criteria. The box must be relatively inexpensive and highly functional. Shipping costs are a substantial factor in the overall pricing of plants, and containers which are comparatively expensive will simply not find universal use. Likewise, if the container, although perhaps inexpensive, is difficult to load with plants, it will likewise not find universal use since loading involves labor costs which are reflected directly in the pricing of the product. Further, the design should be such that if the box is inadvertently tipped over or to one side, the plants and soil do not spill out of the pots. In this regard, the plants are normally set in soil or peat moss, with additives such as perlite or the like, and the overall composition is relatively loosely contained in the pots. This makes the composition very susceptible to spilling, and loss of a substantial part of the soil composition from the pot will obviously result in loss of the plant as well.
A further design disadvantage of present plant containers or boxes is that they are normally not designed to accommodate sleeved pots. At point of sale, potted plants, for example, African Violets, are frequently sold with an enveloping sleeve referred to as UPS (Universal Plant Sleeve). The pots can be dropped down into the sleeve, with the sleeves being substantially longer than the potted plants, even in full bloom. The sleeve is generally cone shaped, opening upwardly and outwardly to accommodate the plant leaves and the blooms. The use of UPS sleeves minimizes leaf breakage during the marketing process, and substantially more plants can be displayed in a particular area since the diameter of the plant is somewhat constricted by the sleeve. The sleeve, which is typically paper but can also be made of plastic film, can also usefully display information concerning the product, or advertising for the product.